Elizabeth Williams

Liz's ACC debut was frustrating, to say the least. She got into immediate foul trouble thanks to some calls that were surprising. Even when she was on the floor, UVa's swarming defense prevented her from getting the ball, as she had just a single shot in the first half and not many more touches. She came out breathing fire in the second half, going high to tip in a Gray miss, scoring with her right hand after her defender flopped in front of her and making a breathtaking catch of a bullet thrown by Chelsea. She ripped down rebounds and ferociously blocked shots (4 in all). Liz also hit 2 crucial foul shots with under five minutes left. She did a poor job of handling the ball, especially early in the game when she coughed up the ball 3 times in the span of a minute. Williams will be facing this kind of defensive pressure all season long and will need to be sharper and more decisive with the ball, like when she found Liston for a three.

Haley Peters

Haley's mid-range game was a valuable weapon for Duke once again, as she opened the game with a spot-up 17' jumper and later hit a shorter shot on a pass from Scheer. She drained a huge three in the second half that stopped a Virginia run and followed that up by scoring in transition. Her biggest play was a backcourt steal and layup where she simply ripped the ball out of her opponent's hand and drove to the hoop. Haley also found Jackson on a cut and Liston for three. She did have a couple of weird turnovers when faced with pressure, but the bigger problem was that she didn't seem to want to scrap inside for rebounds or play physical defense. Instead, she drifted into the passing lanes, looking to get steals. This was effective (she did have 4), but Duke needed bodies in the paint to block out (UVa had 16 offensive boards) and Haley wasn't quite there.

Richa Jackson

Jackson was a fine scoring target, finishing on cuts and in transition as well as getting to the foul line. Richa also sank one of her trademark turnaround jumpers. Her form is beautiful on that shot, which makes her poor foul shooting (just 2-5 in this game) so strange. Like many of her teammates, she was occasionally careless with the ball and threw some bad passes. Richa was willing to mix it up inside, scrapping for 3 offensive boards.

Tricia Liston

Another outstanding game from Tricia, who is thriving at the off guard spot. On the down side, she didn't do a great job defensively (Moorer and Franlkin had way too many open looks and easy forays into the lane), and she also had some sloppy ballhandling. I did think it was sort of strange for her to bring the ball up against pressure, however, so that's not all on her. Offensively, she was incredibly active. She drained 3 treys and also helped salt the game away with free throws. She ran the floor nicely, scoring in transition but also trailing Jackson on a break, tipping in a shot that she missed. She also did the job on the boards, co-leading the team along with Williams. Tricia distributed the ball unselfishly, finding Jackson on a cut, Scheer for three and Peters in transition. She was a weapon out there, and Virginia struggled to stop her.

Chelsea Gray

Let's state the obvious: when Chelsea has the ball in her hands and she's aggressive, Duke is an exciting, dangerous team. When she lets others have the ball and is passive at both ends, Duke is a stagnant team that is painful to watch. She makes everyone else better with her astonishing court vision, and it's obvious that her teammates understand that if they run as fast as they can and get open, Gray will get them the ball. She found Jackson on a cut and in transition. She rocketed a pass from sixty feet away to Liston for a fast break layup. She uncorked another bomb to Williams for an unstoppable score. She floated a perfect pass into Selby for a three point play. When Duke was having trouble scoring, she finally got the ball and dropped in a 17' jumper at the end of the first half and later hit a foul shot. When Virginia pulled within 6 with under six minutes to go, she promptly got to the line and made both shots. She iced the game with 2 more free throws with under two minutes left. If she stays in attack mode all the time and understands that she needs to call her own number more often, then Duke has a chance to be special this year.